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I enquired about him after reading "Veldwagters Vertel" ... He was a very gentle giant who caused a few rangers to get hernia's laughing when he tried to cross the newly electrified fence!!

Would love to know where in the park you saw him, please? A breathtaking sighting indeed!!

We found him on the S56 Mphongolo River Loop (gravel road between Shingwedzi and Babalala Picnic Spot) just north of the short (2km) link road between the S56 and the Shingwedzi-Punda tar road, @ 09:15 on the 15th of January 06.

I would give anything to see a big tusker like Masbambela or Duke! Great stuff!

Masbambela makes for a very impressive avatar, DDW. You were so lucky to spend so much time with him!

[quote="Wild@Heart"]What is the norm when naming the big tuskers?

Seeing that they did not know about him, do they name him or the people who took the photograph?[/quote]


I really should have responded to this ages ago and I’m sorry I didn’t.

Well; I can tell you how and when Duke was named for I was there!

It was close to Christmas 1992 and my family (wife, mother-in-law and two kids) and I were visiting the Park. One day – about noon/early afternoon if I recall correctly, we were slowly driving down that dirt road to the Duke windmill and waterhole. We saw this amazing elephant near the windmill, with two askaris.

He was heading back along the road, on the opposite side to the waterhole and he stopped at a point where he clearly wished to cross the road. He was very close to the car and seemed quite happy to wait all day, if need be, until we moved on – away from the particular spot where he wanted to cross.

I took a couple of pictures of him and really was excited. We drove to Skukuza and I went straight to the photoshop and waited impatiently for the pictures.

When they finally appeared we rushed off to track down Ian Whyte to show him.

He knew the elephant, of course, and showed us the only other picture that he then had of him, a Daryl Balfour shot. And then he said that he had not yet been named. Mother-in-law saw this as a challenge not to be ignored!

“Maybe (you can put on a little old lady voice here :-)) he can be Duke”, she said, “taking into account where we saw him?.”

Dr Whyte liked the idea and so Duke he became and remains. He also liked the one photograph and contacted me some months later in Grahamstown for permission to have a print made for display in the museum at Letaba. Which is where it has been ever since.

My mother-in-law, by the way, is a KNP addict and has been since - - - well; a very long time ago! She is now living in a retirement home in Port Alfred and spends most of her waking hours planning her next Kruger visit. Sadly, she is a bit frail and travelling is getting a bit much for her – Port Alfred is also quite far away from the KNP! She last visited about 18 months ago, with another of her three daughters, and she is now nearly 88 years old.

I thought you might be interested.

These photos were taken on the S28 in April 2005

Ya - we were warned that he was hanging around in the area the previous day. He actually crossed the road, but in front of the vehicle in front of us- so no pics there.

He was so relaxed and quietly ate right next to the road, despite there being about 20 cars there.

We would love to see Duke but so far, he has managed to stay hidden from us. Why don't the camps have pins for the big tuskers so we can at least see what area a big tusker was seen in last?

That is what I call a great idea !

Yes, I second that too. Each ele have a basic home range so the nearest camp (or camps) could 'adopt' an ele and keep tags on him. e.g. Crocodile Bridge & Lower Sabie could monitor Duke.

At first glance this seems like a marvelous idea, but on second thought, let us be realistic and remember security risks to these magnificent animals should their locations be made available to all and sundry.

Only 6.5 sleeps to go (We leave at midnite 15/16 June)

My thoughts exactly! Can you imagine what some people would do to get access to these magnificent tusks!

You think I feel if poachers really wanted those tusks, they would have no trouble finding those elephants.

The KNP is rather big! I have been visiting the area that Duke frequents for the past 12 years at least 4 times per year, and have not seen him in the flesh. There are some of the big ones, that the rangers and park personnel of that area have seen maybe once or twice.

It is not that easy to find a specific animal, even when he may be a large elephant. But, if you have say a thousand cars per month, crossing a specific area, spotting and plotting the where abouts of a specific animal, your chances of finding him increases dramatically.

Dont suppose anyone can identify this rather large bull? We came across him on his own on one of the dirt roads to Engelhard damn back in december 2004:

Front
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c285/ ... 020188.jpg

Side
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c285/ ... 020182.jpg